Velasquez was indicted on two counts each of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of an intoxicant, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle and manslaughter.
NORTHAMPTON - A Hampshire County grand jury has indicted a Springfield man who was allegedly involved in a car accident that took the lives of his 3-year-old daughter and a 71-year-old Easthampton man.
Mauricio Velasquez, 32, lost control of his van on Hendrick Street in Easthampton at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 7, 2013, according to police. His vehicle hit a guardrail and crossed into a lane of on-coming traffic, where it struck a pickup truck driven by Charles Hoffman head-on, police said. Hoffman died as a result of the crash. Also killed was Velasquez' daughter, Diana Velasques-Diaz. According to police, the child either was not in her child's car-seat in the van or was improperly secured.
Hoffman and Diaz-Velasquez were pronounced dead at Baystate Medical Center. Velasquez, his nephew, Milder Velasquez, a passenger in his van, and Janice Hoffman, 69, the wife of Charles Hoffman, were also taken there by ambulance. Velasquez showed up for his arraignment in Northampton District Court a few days later in a wheelchair and neck-brace.
Velasquez was indicted on two counts each of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of an intoxicant, manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle and manslaughter. He reportedly told police he drank six or seven beers in 90 minutes at the home of another nephew prior to the accident, then hit the accelerator instead of the brake when he lost control of his van. He did not have a valid driver's license, according to police. Velasquez is scheduled to be arraigned in Hampshire Superior Court on Feb. 4.